Wrapper sealing mechanism for packaging machines



June 18, 1946. c, ARELT 2,402,231

' WRAPPER SEALING MECHANISM FOR PACKAGING MACHINES Filed June 17, 1945 1 Mum roe. CHARLES ARELT ATTORNEY Patented June 1.8, 1946 UNITED l STAT ES PATENT OFF ICE WRAPPER SEALING MECHANISM FOR PACKAGING MACHINES Charles Arelt, Richmond Hill, N. Y., assignor to American Machine at Foundry Company, a corporation of New Jersey Original application February 20, 1940, Serial No. 319,864. Divided and this application June 1'1, 1943,-8erial No. 491,123

' pending application, S. N. 319,864, filed February 20, 1940, for high speed cigarette packagin machines. V

The invention particularly relates to packaging machines of the kind disclosed in the patent to W. B. Bronander, No. 1,926,192 issued September 12, 1933, in which the wrappers are folded abouttraveling mandrels, mounted for example on a rotary turret, to form containers closed at one end and open at the other end, into which the cigarettes or the like are inserted while still on the mandrels, the containers with the cigarettes or the like therein being ejected from the mandrels and the open ends of the'containers then being closed to complete the packages.

The object of this invention is to provide improved means for sealing the folded end of the wrapper of each package or container in a more eflective manner, and specifically to provide improved means for sealing the containers mentioned in the preceding paragraph prior tothe insertion of the cigarettes or the like into the containers.

The invention consistsin a wrapper sealing mechanism for a packaging machine provided with traveling hollow mandrels about the circumference and over one end of each of which a wrapper is folded, including a member adapted to engage the exterior of the folded end of the wrapper on a mandrel, and a member movable through the mandrel to press said folded end against said exterior member, one of said members having a convexly rounded rubber part arranged to press the folded end opposite the line of esive between the folded flaps thereof.

. Other features of the invention will be clearly set forth in the claims appended hereto.

In the accompanying drawing:

Figs. 1 and 2 are respectively elevational and planviews of the plunger-s for sealing the bottom folds of the packages; and

Fig. 8 is a. p view of the additional plungera for setg the sealed bottom folds of the packages.

an inner wrapper sheet isfed into position in front of a mandrel at one station of the rotary turret, usually the station at the top of the turret,

and the wrapper is.clamped gainst the mandrel by a movable clamp mounted on the turret. The turret advances themandrel to another station, at which the wrapper is folded circumferentially about the mandrel, the overlapping edges of the wrapper being held in place by a rear or seam clamp movably mounted on the turret. At this or another station, the wrapper may be wholly.

or partially folded over one end of the mandrel.

The turret advances the mandrel to another station, usually the station at 90 from the top of the turret, at which the front clamp is moved away from the mandrel and an outer wrapper or label sheet is positioned in front of the mandrel, the wrapper being then held against the mandrel by the front clamp. The mandrel is then moved to another station at which the rear clamp is moved away from, the mandrel, and the outer wrapper is folded circumferentially about the mandrel and the inner wrapper thereon, the overlapping edges, one of which is provided with a stripe of paste, being then held by the rear clamp. At this or another station, the projecting end flaps of the outer wrapper and any unfolded flaps of the inner wrapper are folded over the end of the mandrel, the final flap being provided with paste to secure the folded end. A plunger, or successively acting plungers, inserted within the mandrel presses the folded end of. the pouch or container against an exterior abutment, or abutments, to seal and set the same. At another station, usually diametrically opposite to the label delivery stations, a group of cigarettes or the like is inserted into the mandrel and thus within the pouch or container thereon. At a final station,

The present invention is especially applicableto packaging machines, particularly for packaginll Cigarettes, of the known kind such as disclosed'in the above mentioned prior Patent No. 1,926,192 in which a support or turret intermittently rotated about a horizontal axis, is provided with a. circular series of equally spaced apart hollow mandrels about which the wrappers, usually an inner metalfoil wrapper and an outer paper wrapper or label sheet, are folded to form open-ended containers into which the cigarettes or other articles are inserted. In such maclunes,

usually the station at the top of the turret, the group of cigarettes or the like is ejected from the mandrel, and by engagement with the closed end of the pouch or container, strips the latter also from the mandrel, the filled container open at one end being moved into a position in line with a delivery guideway. In this position the flaps at the open end of the container are folded down over the group of cigarettes or the like and sealed, and the completed package is pushed into the delivery guideway. It will be understood that these operations apply to each mandrel in succession, and that a filled container is ejected from each mandrel as it reaches the position at the top of the turret.

Figs. 1, 2, and 3 illustrate one of the hollow open-ended mandrels M above referred to, which so of the turret has been folded circumferentially at its inner end is supported by a, hollow block 320 which is secured to the rotatable support or turret. It may be assumed with respect to these .flgures that the wrapper at a' preceding station taining a superior bottom seal.

3 about the mandrel to form a pasted seam alon one face of the mandrel, and that the flaps projecting beyondthe outer end of the mandrel have been folded over to form the folded end, the outer or last folded end flap having had applied thereto a stripe or line of paste to provide for the sealing of the folded end. The and folding of the wrapper is disclosed in Patent No. 1,926,192 or the v exterior of the pouch bottom, a reciprocable mempatent to G. W. Gwinll, 6t 81., No. 1,885,910, issued November 1, 1932, and circumferential folding means are disclosed in my application S. N.'

319,864, filed February 20, 1940, from which the present application has been divided.

At a station of the turret following the station ,-'to' its outer end, and the plunger 322 is moved exteriorly toward the outer end of the mandrel, the folded end D of the container being pressed be- :tween the two plungers, The plunger 322 consists of a fiat plate, but the plunger 32! carries a convexly rounded rubber cushion 323 arranged so that it is aligned with the Paste line o the outer end flap of the outer wrapper. A flat plunger or rubber cushion would tend to become concave under the pressure and fail to properly press the seam, but the rounded cushion 323 actually' concentrates the pressure at the desired point, namely along the paste line, and the pressure causes the paste to spread evenly between the bottom folds of the outer wrapper, thereby ob- At a. succeeding station, a second pair of plungers 324 and 321 are provided, as shown in Fig. 3. The interior plunger 32! comprises a; flat plate, and the exterior plunger 324 is provided with a hat rubber cushion 325. These plungers press the folded end D of the container P between them, and provide a flat container bottom with square-shaped corners. Operating mechanism of generally known form may be provided for operating the two pairs of plungers, such for example as that disclosed in the above mentioned Patent No. 1,926,192. Thus a smooth bottom is assured on the package from which no folds will project to press inwardly against an individual cigarette and form a white collar thereon during the ejection of the package from the mandrel.

As in the known machines, a group of cigarettes or th 1ike is inserted at a subsequent station into each mandrel, and thus within the partially formed container thereon, and as each mandrel reaches the ejecting station, usually the station at the top of the turret, the groupof cigarettes or the like is ejected through the mandrel, stripping the container therefrom by engagement with the closed end thereof.

Each container with the cigarettes or the like her movable into the interior of the mandrel, said reciprocable member being provided with a semicylindrical groove, and a rounded rubber strip havinga breadth which is no greater than the breadth of said groove, said strip being. embedded in said groove in alignment with said adhesive stripe and adapted to be compressed against the interior of the pouch bottom when said reciprocable member enters said mandrel to seal the overlapped end folds together along said adhesive stripe, said rubber strip being considerably narrower than the breadth of said pouch bottom to concentrate the pressure applied by said rubber strip to a region of the pouch bottom extending along said adhesive stripe.

2. The combination with a hollow mandrel adapted to support a pouch formed of flexible sheet material and having end folds overlapped atone end of the mandrel to form'the bottom of the pouch and provided with a stripe of adhesive on one of the end folds, said adhesive stripe b ing located between contiguous faces of the end folds and extending longitudinally of the pouch bottom, of an unheated member adapted to engage the exterior of the pouch bottom, a reciprocable member movable through the mandrel, one of said members being provided with a groove on its inner face, and a rounded rubber part whose breadth is no greater than'the breadth of said groove, said rubber part being embedded in said groove and arranged to e gage and press a portion of the overlapped and folds of the pouch bottom opposite said stripe of adhesive against the other of said members and thereby seal the overlapped folds, the breadth of said rounded rubber part being considerably narrower than the breadth of the pouch bottom to concentrate the pressure applied by said rubber part to a region of the pouch bottom extending along said adhesive stripe, a plunger adapted to enter the mandrel after the pouch bottom has been sealed by said members, said plunger being provided with a therein is delivered to a mechanism for closing 1. The combination with a hollow mandrel adapted to support a pouch formed of flexible sheet material and having end folds overlapped at one end of the mandrel to form the bottom "of the pouch, theoutermost end fold being provided with a stripe of adhesive on its inner face.

extending longitudinally of the pouch bottom, of an unheated plate movable into contact with the bottom and arranged to engage the interior of the pouch bottom, and a device for engaging the exterior of the pouch bottom for pressing it against said plunger face to flatten and square the pouch bottom.

3. The combination with a hollow mandrel adapted to support a pouch formed of flexible sheet material and having end folds overlapped at one end of the mandrel to form the bottom of the pouch and provided with a stripe of adhesive on one of the end folds, said adhesive stripe being located between contiguous faces of the end foldsand extending longitudinally of the pouch bottom, of an unheated member adapted to engage the exterior of the pouch bottom, a reel?- rocable member movable through the mandrel, one or said members being provided with a groove on'its inner face, and a rounded rubber part whosebreadth is no greater than the breadth of said groove, said rubber part being embedded in said groove and arranged to engage and press a portion of the overlapped end folds of the pouch bottom opposite said stripe of adhesive against the other of said members and thereby seal the overlapped folds, thebreadth of said rounded rubber part being considerably narrower than the breadth of the pouch bottom to concentrate the pressure applied by said rubber part to a region.

hesive stripe. v

CHARLES ARELT. 

